


Quarantine

by ElderlySeaHag



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Boundaries, Canonical Age Difference, College Student Rey (Star Wars), Coronavirus, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Loss of Virginity, Making Out, Masturbation, Older Man/Younger Woman, Oral Sex, Pandemic - Freeform, Quarantine, Smut, Texting, Tinder, Vaginal Sex, Virgin Rey (Star Wars), did anyone ask for a coronavirus fic? No? that's okay. I am writing one anyway., i am trash, the smut has arrived, tinderella
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:41:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23256349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElderlySeaHag/pseuds/ElderlySeaHag
Summary: Rey's dorm is closing due to the Coronavirus outbreak, and she needs a place to stay.There's nothing Ben Solo would like more than for the cute girl he met on Tinder to go into quarantine with him.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 58
Kudos: 290





	1. Spring Break

**Author's Note:**

> So basically, I am trash. Does this count as exploiting a tragedy? IDK but I get my inspiration from real life and right now this is my real life and I'm doing a whole lot of nothing except for hiding in my room and trying not to contract a virus, so this is what I came up with. So, I am sorry if you come here to escape from reality, feel free to skip this fic if you are also stuck in quarantine and don't want to continue to be reminded of that. On the other hand, if you're stuck in quarantine and wish you were spending it with your equal in the force, here's whatever this is. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Also, this chapter takes place about a week or two ago, before most cities completely shut down. It will continue into more of the shutdown in later chapters.

It was spring break, and Rey was bored out of her mind.

None of her friends were left on campus-- some of them were on exciting trips, but most of them were back home with their families. Rey had no family to stay with and no money to travel, so she had signed up for break housing and stuck around whenever classes were out. So far, she had completed nearly every homework assignment she was able to do early and studied ahead for several courses. She was running out of things to do.

Rey curled up on the windowsill of her dorm room, which was just wide enough for her to balance on while angling her feet so that they could soak up the warmth from the radiator below. This dorm was old, probably from the 1930s or so, and although the ancient radiators sometimes made noises that would make most sane people believe the place was haunted, Rey loved the big windows and old charm. She stared at her phone, bouncing from app to app, trying to find something to entertain herself with. She paused when she noticed the Tinder app on her homepage. Her friends, Finn and Rose, had convinced her to download it last semester, and she’d barely used it. But hey, it was something to do.

Rey opened the app and swiped through a couple of profiles. Most of them looked like the typical college bros Rey went to school with: lots of Patagonia vests, lots of summer photos on boats or beaches, lots of partying and cigars and expensive city bars. Not really Rey’s type.

She swiped left on most of the profiles, quickly running out of options; the city was huge, but most of the 19-22 year olds were students and most of the students were out of town right now.

Rolling her eyes, Rey opened her settings and adjusted her age range. _Fuck it,_ she thought, sliding the top end up from 22 to 30. 

She went back to swiping, and now there was a little more variety. Some of the guys seemed pretty interesting; some of them were clearly just trying to advertise how much money they had. Rey got a couple of matches but didn’t send any messages; she was just here to waste time and didn’t really know what to say.

One profile caught her eye, because he didn’t fit into any of her neat stereotypes of city guys. His photos weren’t great quality, but she could still tell he was attractive; slightly long dark hair, broad shoulders, prominent nose. A few of his photos were from a Spartan race and taken from a slight distance, but Rey could see the muscles of his arms even on her tiny phone screen. One was a candid of him in a tux-- probably at someone’s wedding-- and one was a slightly awkward mirror selfie in a suit. Rey scrolled down to his bio:

**Ben, 29, 1 mile away**  
_I’m not really sure what to write here. I like to travel and get to know new parts of the city. I also enjoy live music. Oh, and I’ve been told that I should put my height in here. I’m 6’2._

_Well, if that wasn’t the most vague bio you could possibly come up with,_ Rey thought. Who doesn’t like traveling and music? Despite that, Rey decided to swipe right. Something about his face intrigued her.

Seconds later, she got a notification informing her that they had matched. 

Rey continued swiping, rolling her eyes at bland profile after bland profile, until another notification came in. _New message from Ben._ Rey opened the chat.

**Hello beautiful**

Rey rolled her eyes at the bold opener, but decided to reply anyway. 

_hey, what’s up_

His reply came almost immediately, as though he hadn’t closed the chat between messages.

**Currently sitting in a conference room, waiting for a meeting to start. They’re late.**

_that sounds frustrating_

**It is. But I’m much more curious what you’re doing right now.**

_it’s not a whole lot more interesting. i’m stuck on campus for spring break, and i’ve already done all my homework_

**Beautiful and smart**

**Do you live in the dorms?**

_yeah, break housing_

**Have you heard anything about the Coronavirus impacting your school?**

Rey bit her lip. She didn’t pay a lot of attention to the news-- she didn’t have a TV and she spent most of her screen time doing homework and watching Netflix-- but she’d heard that the virus might have some kind of impact on campus.

_not as far as i know. i heard they might extend spring break to 2 weeks. i hope not though, i’m so bored._

**I can imagine.**

Rey waited to see if he would follow that up with something, but he didn’t. Rey wanted to get off the topic of Coronavirus, all it was doing was stressing her out. 

_yeah_

_so, what do you do for fun?_

Rey waited a moment, his silence seeming to confirm that his meeting had begun. She put her phone aside and pulled up Netflix on her laptop. She’d probably be doing a whole lot of this for a week.

_________________________________

Ben checked the time on his phone and rolled his eyes. The clients were late to the meeting, again. Typically, him offering to go to their offices instead of having them come to him meant that he wouldn’t need to worry about them being late, but he had been led to this conference room by one of their admins twenty minutes ago.

He debated opening up his computer and trying to get some work done, but at the moment nearly everything he needed to do relied on the information he was supposed to get in this meeting. He turned to his phone again, idly scrolling through apps.

Glancing around to make sure that none of the windows to the hallway or presentation-recording cameras could see his screen, Ben opened Tinder and waited for the app to load. He went on it every so often, hoping to score a date for drinks or dinner, but it never seemed to turn into anything.

The first profile that popped up immediately caught his eye. Her photos were really nice: a couple that must have been taken by friends while they were out in the city, of her in a winter coat holding a hot drink while smiling next to some Christmas lights and another in a cute dress leaning on the railing overlooking the harbor. A few of the photos were of a group of friends, but it was easy to recognize her from the group. He paused on the last photo, which looked like a candid of her laughing in a bikini. He wasn’t sure what caught his eye most, the genuine happiness on her face or the view of her body.

He already knew he was swiping right, but he took a look at her bio anyway.

**Rey, 19, 1 mile away**  
_Engineering student from the UK 🇬🇧_  
Trying to see every museum in the city before I graduate!  
Still confused about American spelling, please help 

She was British? He wondered what her accent would be like. He loved accents. He held his breath as he swiped right, wondering if there was even a chance in hell--

_It’s a match!_

Holy shit.

He tapped the button to send her a message immediately. 

**Hello beautiful**

It was the first thing he could come up with. _Please reply, please reply,_ he prayed silently.

_hey, what’s up_

The relief he felt was instantaneous. He hadn’t scared her away. At least not yet. He scrambled to reply before she lost interest.

**Currently sitting in a conference room, waiting for a meeting to start. They’re late.**

He hoped he didn’t sound too boring. But at least this way she would know he had a job.

_that sounds frustrating_

**It is. But I’m much more curious what you’re doing right now.**

_it’s not a whole lot more interesting. i’m stuck on campus for spring break, and i’ve already done all my homework_

Oh, right. Ben remembered that it was spring break; most of the college students were away partying or visiting family. He wondered why she wasn’t one of them, but decided not to ask. He guessed it was because the UK was too far to go back for just a week. 

**Beautiful and smart**

**Do you live in the dorms?**

_yeah, break housing_

Ben tried to envision what she would look like now, probably lounging on a high dorm bed with brightly colored sheets, probably surrounded by fairy lights and those tapestries that every girl’s dorm room seemed to have. He wracked his brain for something intelligent to say.

**Have you heard anything about the Coronavirus impacting your school?**

Maybe the wrong direction to go in-- new viruses entering the country wasn’t exactly a flirtatious subject. But a reply came through, so he must not have fucked up that badly.

_not as far as i know. i heard they might extend spring break to 2 weeks. i hope not though, i’m so bored._

Ben smiled. Maybe if she was bored enough, she’d have time to get dinner with him. He imagined taking her somewhere nice, buying them a bottle of wine--

Oh, shit, she was under 21. Well, nix the wine. But he’d get to hear her talk all about her studies in that cute accent he was sure she’d have.

**I can imagine.**

While Ben tried to come up with something interesting to follow his last, admittedly weak, message, the door to the conference room finally opened.

“Hey, Solo, sorry we’re late, I hope you weren’t left waiting too long,” one of the clients said with a massive sales smile plastered to his face.

Ben feigned nonchalance, now less angry that they left him waiting a full half hour-- and knew it, they had the meeting times displayed prominently on the home screens of their company iPads-- but rather annoyed that they cut off his conversation with Rey. “It’s fine,” he said. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

_________________________________

It was almost four, and Rey finally had a reason to get dressed. She worked a couple of nights a week at Kanata, a slightly upscale bar and restaurant mostly frequented by businesspeople on their way home from the office or for higher-end work lunches. She fixed her hair into the three buns she usually did for work and put a little bit of makeup on before grabbing her coat and apron and walking the fifteen minutes down the street to the restaurant.

“It’s been slow all day,” Rey’s coworker, Kaydel, said as Rey punched in. The decor was a mix between industrial and cozy, with a lot of shiny metal and dark faux leather and interesting track lighting. The wall behind the bar was painted black, with _All are welcome (no fighting)_ handwritten in various languages in silver paint.

“I wonder why,” Rey said. “Our customers aren’t college students.”

“It’s that stupid coronavirus,” Kaydel said. “People aren’t going out. I think a lot of the office people are working from home.”

“Really?” Rey asked. “Is it that bad?”

“Don’t you watch the news?” Kaydel asked. 

“No,” Rey said. “I don’t have cable.”

“Of course not,” Kaydel said. “Well, I have to listen to the news all day when I’m working the bar, and it’s all they’re talking about. There are cases in this city now. We’re going to end up on lockdown, like Italy and China. I’m literally washing my hands every five minutes. Look.” Kaydel held her hands out so that Rey could see the chapped skin on the backs of her knuckles.

“Wow,” Rey said. “Point taken.” She tied her apron on and washed her own hands. “I hope it’s contained,” she added.

“It’s not,” Kaydel said with a slight laugh. “Wash your hands well and don’t lean in when the customers are talking to you.”

Rey started her shift, being extra careful not to touch her face. _Please don’t shut down the university,_ she prayed. _I’m already bored out of my mind._

_________________________________

The client meeting started half an hour late and went thirty minutes over the estimated time, making Ben an hour late returning to his office. That was fine, except he had to rush to make it to the meeting with his team to discuss the results of the client meeting, and he didn’t have a spare second to check his phone. It was burning a hole in his pocket all day, and he knew Rey had responded, but he couldn’t open Tinder in this meeting without the junior business analyst looking over his shoulder at the screen, and he didn’t need him telling all the interns that Solo the project manager was on that app during work hours.

The meeting finished up right at five, and Ben wasted no time returning to his office to pack his bag and finally look at his phone. Two new messages from Rey and a work email with the subject line _Company-Wide Coronavirus Update_. He ignored the work email and went straight to the Tinder chat.

_yeah_

_so, what do you do for fun?_

Ben quickly tapped out a reply.

**I like to get out of the city. Hiking, skiing, all that kind of stuff. I also go out to eat sometimes, try something new. Anytime there’s a bar with good live music, I like to go check it out.**

Ben hoped Rey liked some of those things too. Most people did, but who knew what this intriguing British girl was into. As an afterthought, he added one more line.

**I’d totally check out some museums with you, by the way.**

He hoped he wasn’t being too forward. How forward was one supposed to be on this app? He could never be sure.

She didn’t reply right away, so he slid his phone into his pocket and headed for the elevator. He was hungry, tired, and stressed, and he knew he had nothing at home ready to eat, so he took a detour down to one of the restaurants on this block and took a seat at the mostly empty bar.

The bartender was pretty-- tall, slightly tan, and wearing a form-fitting black dress that showed off her fit build-- and greeted him with a smile right away. “Good evening, how are you?” she asked, and immediately Ben realized why she’d looked a little familiar at first glance. Between the big hazel eyes and the British accent, this had to be Rey. Of all the people in this massive city, the Tinder girl he’d been thinking about all day just happened to be his bartender tonight. That must mean _something._

“I’m doing well, how are you?” he mustered as a reply as he took her in. She was pretty in her photos, but much better looking in real life, with only a three foot wide bar in between them. And that accent-- _whoa._ Or maybe it was just her voice. Either way, he was a goner.

Ben wondered if he saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes as she took him in, but her customer service smile never faltered. “I’m doing great,” she said. “Can I get you started with something to drink?”

Ben ordered a draft beer and a water, then began perusing the menu. This place had pretty good food, and it didn’t take him long to find something he liked, so by the time she was setting down his drinks, he was able to put in his order. He checked his phone again. Rey still hadn’t responded, but that made a whole lot of sense, given that he was ninety-nine percent sure she was right in front of him, entering his entree order into a computer, and clearly not using her phone. He decided to finally deal with that work email, and opened it up.

_Dear First Order Technologies Staff,_

_FOT Management has been working hard to keep up with the rapidly changing situation revolving around the new Coronavirus. At this time, it appears that this virus is particularly dangerous to those over 50 and those who are immunocompromised in any way. We ask that any member of staff who belongs to one of these high risk groups or who lives with a high risk individual to please inform your supervisor and begin working from home starting tomorrow. Although there are currently no known cases involving First Order Staff or anyone in our office building, it is out of an abundance of caution that we take this step to ensure the safety of our employees and their families._

Ben closed the email. He was 29 and lived alone, and as far as he knew, his immune system was working great. He wasn’t surprised that management sent out that email; there weren’t a whole lot of people at First Order who were likely to fit into any of those categories, and most employees had work from home privileges anyway, so they could give themselves a pat on the back without really doing anything at all.

The girl who was probably Rey dropped off Ben’s vegetarian mediterranean platter with a smile and continued to work. She was much more interesting to look at than his work inbox. 

He really hoped she would keep replying to him tonight.

_________________________________

“Kaydel, come here,” Rey said, pulling her coworker into a secluded corner of the kitchen when they were both in the back waiting for food to come up.

“What’s up?” Kaydel asked.

Subtly, Rey pulled her phone out of her pocket, angling herself so that her and Kaydel’s bodies blocked anyone behind them from seeing what she was doing. “Okay, so I matched with this guy on Tinder last night…” She let Kaydel swipe through the pictures.

“Into older men, I see,” Kaydel said. “I knew it.”

“Yeah, well, when you go back out, tell me if you think that might be the same guy who’s sitting at seat seven right now.”

Kaydel’s food came up, and she grabbed it from the rack and headed out to the bar. She returned before Rey’s order was done. “That’s him,” she said. “I’m almost positive. Check out his watch in the photo of him in the suit, and then look at the watch he’s wearing now. And the phone case, it’s the same.”

Rey’s order came up, and she grabbed it, delivering it to a couple on the other end of the bar. She wandered back toward where the man was sitting, pretending to be looking for something behind the bar. When she reached him, she smiled. “How is everything?” she asked, nonchalantly checking out his watch when he replied.

“It’s great,” he said. “Really good.” He stared at her for a moment too long, and she was sure he knew.

“Wonderful, enjoy!” she said in her pure customer service voice before she scurried off to fill some drink tickets for the dining room. Anxiety shot through her veins like ice water. She was partly nervous that he might be stalking her-- showing up to the bar she worked at during her shift the day they started talking was a big coincidence. But on the other hand, he was totally their demographic, apparently worked nearby, and she might have spotted him here before when she was working the dining room and not the bar. Even with his striking frame, he would have still mostly blended in with the sea of rich guys in suits. On the other hand, she was also somewhat nervous that he might not be interested anymore-- he knew she was a college student, but she didn’t mention that she also worked at a restaurant, and she wasn’t sure if he would have any thoughts about that.

He looked surprised yet happy to see her, though, so maybe her anxiety was for nothing.

Her suspicions were confirmed when he paid-- **Benjamin Solo** was printed on his heavy Amex. He didn’t say anything about it when he left, even after seeing her first name printed on the receipt, but he did leave a fifty percent tip, and Rey doubted he did that for everyone.

The rest of Rey’s shift dragged, and there was a definite drop in business compared to a typical night this time of year. She hoped it wouldn’t keep going like this; she needed these tips. Most of her college expenses were paid for in scholarships, but she still needed to pay for other necessities and she was saving up to make sure that she could afford the apartment room she would be subletting for the summer when the dorms closed.

When she was finally done closing, she bolted home, not stopping until she was safely in her room. She stripped off her work dress and threw on a pastel camisole and some sleep shorts before jumping up onto her raised dorm bed and checking her phone. She had seen that she had a new message when she went to show Kaydel Ben’s profile, but hadn’t had time to read it.

**I like to get out of the city. Hiking, skiing, all that kind of stuff. I also go out to eat sometimes, try something new. Anytime there’s a bar with good live music, I like to go check it out.**

**I’d totally check out some museums with you, by the way.**

Rey smiled, sending her reply.

_always looking for a good museum buddy ;) go out to eat anywhere good recently?_

His response came after just a minute.

**There’s a place right by where I work called Kanata, have you ever been?**

Rey was pretty sure he was messing with her, but took the bait.

_once or twice. i hear there are some pretty fabulous bartenders there._

**There’s a really cute British girl who works there, do you know her?**

_we’ve met. she’s ok. did she ask you for your number?_

**No, but could you give mine to her for me?**

Rey stared at the string of digits Ben sent, her face slowly getting warm. She wasn’t typically this forward, rarely texting guys from Tinder with her actual number, but she was partially bored and partially intrigued by this tall, older dude. She copied the number and sent him a text.

_hey, it’s british bar girl_

**This is the same Rey, right? That was you who waited on me today?**

Rey rolled her eyes, then decided to snap a quick selfie and send it by way of a response.

_hope you enjoyed your mediterranean platter ;) how was the rest of your night?_

**A lot better than my work day, I’m sure. I went home after dinner and got a little more work done. Now I’m just relaxing.**

_relaxing is good :) i just got home, time for bed_

**Your pajamas look cute.**

Rey blushed, glancing at the selfie she’d sent him. The lace edges of the low-cut camisole were visible at the bottom of the photo.

_thanks_

An email notification appeared at the top of the screen, and Rey opened it, scanning its contents. Spring break was being extended to two weeks. _Shit._ Well, at least this meant she might be able to pick up some extra shifts.

_________________________________

Ben stared at the photo Rey had sent him. She was really, really cute. He really hoped he’d be able to get a date set up with her soon. That was, unless they were forced into quarantine by this virus.

A scenario flashed through his head of her joining him for that quarantine. Spending a couple weeks alone in his apartment with that beautiful girl, not having to leave for school or work…

Unrealistic. That wasn’t going to happen.


	2. First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben have dinner and get to know each other a little more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! Happy quarantine to the many of you that are, like me, stuck at home unable to go anywhere, do anything, or see anyone. I'm definitely using this fic to cope with my cabin fever, so I hope this helps you guys get through it too! I had fun writing this so I hope you have fun reading it!
> 
> PS I updated the rating, I don't know if I quite earned the explicit rating yet in this one but I probably got close. I am definitely planning to in the future (what else are they gonna do during quarantine, let's be real) so keep that in mind if that affects you!

**Good morning beautiful**

Rey’s phone had an abundance of notifications waiting for her when she woke up, but Ben’s text was the first one she replied to. This might have actually been the longest conversation she’d ever had from Tinder. She was surprised by the amount of excitement she felt, especially since he wasn’t who she would typically be interested in. She’d never actually considered dating someone that much older than she was-- was it weird? Kaydel hadn’t seemed put off by it, but she had commented, and Kaydel was usually chill with pretty much anything as long as it didn’t cut into her tips. She responded, curling up under the covers so as little of her body was exposed to the drafty dorm temperatures as possible.

_morning! how did you sleep?_

**Pretty well. I just got in to work. What are you doing with your Spring Break freedom today?**

_probably not a whole lot, lol. gonna go eat at the dining hall and then it’s probably back to netflix_

**Do you work tonight?**

_no, not tonight_

**Would you be interested in getting dinner with me? We can both be on the same side of the bar this time.**

Oh, shit. An actual date invitation. Rey panicked a little. Part of her still didn’t think it was ever actually going to get this far. She figured they’d text and maybe exchange a few snapchats and then eventually he’d stop talking to her, or she’d stop talking to him.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she hit send, hoping he wasn’t planning on murdering her.

_that might be nice :) where would you like to go?_

**Anywhere you want. What kind of food do you like?**

_i’ll eat anything lol_

**I’m pretty flexible myself. Here, I’ll send you the menus of a few of my favorite places and you can tell me what looks good, or we can go somewhere you pick.**

Ben sent Rey a few links to restaurant websites. All the places were pretty close by, so she could easily walk and not have to worry about trains or Ubers or possibly getting a ride from a stranger from Tinder, but when Rey examined their sleek websites and checked their menus, she noticed that they were all also very _expensive_. It made Rey a little uncomfortable-- she worked at a relatively upscale place, but she didn’t typically eat anywhere like that. She didn’t have a lot of money, and even though she had a feeling Ben would be the type to insist on paying for a first date, she didn’t like the idea of feeling like she owed him something big. She’d take the free meal, but she’d rather it be a little more in her element.

_wait, do you like vietnamese food?_

**Can’t say I’m incredibly familiar with the cuisine, but I’m a curious eater.**

Rey sent him the link to the small pho place she occasionally visited with her friends. The food was good while also being affordable, the atmosphere was cozy, and most importantly, she could literally see the entrance from her dorm room, so if anything went sideways she wouldn’t have far to go to get home.

_this weather calls for hot soup_

**Looks good! Not far from my office. Want to meet me there at 6?**

_perfect :)_

Okay, she could do this. It’s right across the street. Just gotta show up, eat the soup, and talk to the tall hot guy who wears suits and apparently works in one of the office buildings right nearby. Easy.

______________________

Ben stared at the new appointment he had just added to his calendar. _Dinner with R_ was scheduled for 6:00PM, with a reminder at 5:30 to make sure he had time to fix his hair and maybe change into a fresh dress shirt, and a second reminder at 5:45 to make sure he left his office on time to walk over to the noodle shop. He was surprised that she picked that place over the menus he’d sent her, but not completely disappointed. Although it ruined his fantasy of taking her to a classy, white-tablecloth type meal, this would probably be less pressure for a first date. They’d have plenty of opportunities to go elsewhere, if Ben didn’t fuck this up.

Ben’s laptop made a noise that signalled that he had received a new email from upper management. It was an appointment invitation for a meeting starting--

Now. Ben rolled his eyes, clicking the link to see the details. Of course, he was expected to be available at literally a moment’s notice. It’s not like he had a _job_ to do, or anything. He was surprised to see that even though the person who called the meeting and all the invitees were on-site internal employees, the meeting was set up as a video conference. Ben put on his headset and joined the call, watching as all of the supervisors, project managers, and technical leads joined in.

“Is everybody here?” his boss’s boss asked. His assistant’s affirmation could be heard in the background. “All right. So, as you can see, I decided to make this a virtual meeting, the reasons for which are about to become very clear to you. As you remember, yesterday we asked anyone with certain risk factors relating to the new Coronavirus to begin working from home to ensure that they are not putting themselves at undue risk by coming in. This morning, we received news that there are a number of new cases in this city, many apparently being connected to a large conference held here last week. Although there are no known cases in this building or in First Order specifically, many of our clients and neighbors had representatives at that conference who may have been exposed to the virus. With this new information, we have decided that the best course of action is to ask everyone to begin working from home starting tomorrow. Please use whatever time you have today preparing for this shift. Supervisors, please make sure that all of your reports have the technology that they need and are set up for remote work. Project managers, please make sure that everyone on your team has a clear idea of what this is going to look like for them and how you are going to be managing a remote team. Are there any questions?”

There were many, many questions. Ben just sat back in his chair, listening as his colleagues volleyed their concerns to management, and management responded with flat, simple answers. Yes, that means everyone. No, we don’t know how long. Client meetings will be moved to virtual. On and on.

This was a shock for sure, but it wasn’t too bad. Ben didn’t mind working from home-- none of his team members could barge into his office to complain about being blocked by something they were well aware he was actively trying to fix. But it did leave him with a strange, uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. This was really weird.

Getting his team on the same page for remote work wasn’t hard-- they already had a couple of fully remote team members, so it wasn’t too much of an experiment. Management had announced that individuals could leave once their supervisors and project managers decided that they were good to go for remote work, as long as travel wouldn’t conflict with any of their calls, so the office was clearing out fast. Ben realized he didn’t have a reason to stay, so he decided to head back to his apartment and finish his day there.

“We’re literally about to end up like Italy,” one of the recruiters said to another in the elevator. Ben was surprised they were just leaving now: most of the other recruiters had been out the door before management had even finished making the announcement.

“Holy shit, I know,” the other replied. “We’re all going to be in quarantine. All the stores closed, it’s going to suck.”

Ben raised an eyebrow, wondering how true that was. He realized he didn’t have any food at home, and decided to swing by the grocery store on his way home and grab some basics, especially since he’d be working from home for a while. 

_______________________

By the time Rey made it to the dining hall for breakfast, it was more like lunchtime. She loaded up a plate and sat down at an empty table, pausing mid-bite to read the tented cardstock on the table that hadn’t been there yesterday.

**Attention Students and Faculty,**

**Due to the evolving situation regarding the Coronavirus (COVID19), all campus dining areas will be closed starting Wednesday and dining services will be limited to takeout. Details will be announced via email.**

**-Dining Hall Management**

_God damnit,_ Rey thought. This made her nervous-- reducing service seemed like a logical first step before closing down altogether, and her meal plan, which was largely subsidized by her scholarships and financial aid, was by far her primary source of food. Her dorm building had a kitchen on the first floor, but it was decades out of date and the appliances didn’t always work, and her room was too cramped to keep a supply of groceries on hand.

After lunch, Rey returned to her room, debating what to wear to dinner. When Ben ate at Kanata, he had been wearing a suit. She assumed that was what he typically wore to work, so she didn’t want to look too casual by comparison, but she also didn’t want to look totally out of place at a pho shop. She went with a simple, wine-colored dress she’d found on clearance the year before and paired it with the brown boots she usually wore to class.

Rey’s phone vibrated. She had a new text from Ben.

**My whole company just went to work from home. This is getting crazy!**

_the dining halls at the school are going takeout-only tomorrow :( i’m afraid they’ll close completely_

**Ouch. I’m guessing you don’t have a kitchen in your tiny little dorm room?**

_nope lol. gonna be a rough time. maybe my boss maz will send me home with leftovers from kanata_

**Well, if you need to cook this week, my place has a pretty good kitchen.**

Rey blushed. Was he inviting her over? Already? Well, it was pretty hypothetical, so maybe not so crazy, but still.

_thanks :) i’m looking forward to noodles tonight_

**Me too. I can’t wait to see you.**

Rey checked the time. Only a couple more hours until their date.

____________________________

Ben spent the rest of his afternoon remotely helping his team adapt to working from home while simultaneously getting his home office ready for a lot more use than it typically saw. This room also held all of his workout equipment, and he decided to rearrange that a little, too, since he should probably stop going to the gym if he wasn’t even supposed to be going to his office.

Ben’s phone finally-- _finally_ \-- went off, alerting him that his date with Rey was in half an hour. He checked himself out in the mirror; he was still in the black suit he’d worn to work. He decided to ditch the blazer and change out the gray shirt for a midnight blue one, leaving a few buttons open and skipping a tie. He rolled the sleeves up to his elbows-- good. Now he would look like a guy on a date, not like he was a lawyer meeting his teenage client to discuss the restraining order she was trying to get against her creepy ex.

He dabbed on a little cologne and made sure his hair was hitting his collar in a way that made him look put-together but not trying too hard, just as his phone went off with the second alert reminding him that it was time to head to the pho shop.

The place Rey had chosen was only a couple of blocks from his condo, and he could see the university dorms right across the street. He wondered if those were the ones she lived in, if he could see her window from here. He stepped inside to the small shop and was greeted by one of the servers. He didn’t see Rey yet, so he let the server know that there would be two of them and followed her to a small, high table against the wall. The shop was cozy, if a little tight, but he liked the atmosphere, the sleek black furniture and warm wood paneling, and the artistic decor.

Rey arrived a few minutes later, and Ben waved her over to his table. She had looked nice in her bartender uniform, but the dress she had on now was somehow better, the long sleeves showing off the graceful stretch of her arms and the neckline cutting much lower to reveal a hint of cleavage.

He really hoped she’d spend some of her extended spring break at his place.

_________________

Rey knew Ben was attractive, but he somehow looked a lot better without his suit jacket and tie. It must have been the forearms; now that they were exposed on the table, Rey could appreciate the thickness of them, and guess more about the muscles bulging under his sleeves and stretching the chest and shoulders of his shirt.

“Hey, how are you?” Rey asked as she sat down.

“Much better now that work is done,” Ben said. “How did you spend your free day?”

“Honestly, didn’t do much,” Rey laughed. “All my friends are away for break, so it’s been work and Netflix.”

“Doesn’t sound too horrible,” Ben said. “Unless you have to wait on some creepy dude you matched with on Tinder.”

They laughed, and Rey defended herself-- “I wasn’t quite sure it was you until I saw your name on your card, and then I was afraid you didn’t say anything because you weren’t interested anymore.”

“That could not be further from the truth,” Ben said. “I was afraid of making you uncomfortable at work. I cannot imagine meeting you in person and being anything less than infatuated.”

Rey blushed at the compliment. “Thanks, I’m glad my side gig isn’t a turnoff.”

“Of course not.”

The server arrived, saving Rey from having to come up with a reply. They ordered, and Ben started asking her some basic questions about her choice to study engineering, which was much easier to answer.

“And what do you do, exactly?” Rey asked.

“I’m a project manager,” Ben replied. 

“For engineering?” Rey asked.

“Software engineering, yes,” he said. “My office is actually not too far from your school.”

“Which company?”

“First Order Tech,” he said. “It’s in the high rise a couple blocks over.”

Rey’s eyebrows shot up. First Order was a big company, and she’d heard the graduates from her school that went to work there were making a ton of money. It was intense, though, according to the rumors. Long hours, strict management. “How do you like it there?”

“It’s a job,” Ben said. “I used to be on a different engineering team there, I’ve liked it more since I switched to PMing.” 

Rey nodded, pretending she understood. This would be her world someday, but she hardly knew how a big company like First Order would be on the inside.

“Do you have any internships lined up?” Ben asked.

Rey blushed. “Yes, actually, but with Resistance, awkwardly.”

Ben laughed. “The rivalry is real, but I don’t give a fuck,” Ben said. “There are good people at Resistance. You’ll like it.”

The food arrived, and Rey dug in, having not eaten as much at lunch as she usually might have due to the slimmer options during spring break. The pho was exactly what she wanted-- hot, flavorful, and full of carbs.

“This is good,” Ben said after a few bites. “I’m mad I never tried it before.”

“It’s one of my favorites,” Rey said. “Whenever I’m sick of dining hall food, it’s this or pizza.”

“I’m definitely familiar with pizza,” Ben said. “Intimately familiar. I’ll have to take you to my favorite spot.”

“I’m always down for pizza,” Rey said.

They finished their meals, and Ben picked up the check before Rey even had a chance to react. He signed the receipt and stuck a ten dollar bill in the folder for a tip before leading Rey out of the shop and onto the sidewalk. 

“Can I walk you back to your dorm?” Ben asked.

“It’s actually right across the street,” Rey said, pointing at the old brick building.

Ben laughed. “Can I walk you across the street?”

Rey took the arm he offered her, taking the opportunity to feel the muscles under his sleeve. She didn’t want the night to end so early, but she didn’t want to give him the wrong idea by inviting him up to her room…

It seems Ben had the same idea. “If you were 21, I would ask if you wanted to stop at a bar for a drink, but I’m not sure anyplace around here would let you in,” he said.

“I’d invite you up for a cup of tea, but my dorm room might feel a little small for you,” Rey countered.

“I can squeeze,” Ben said. Rey didn’t think it was an innuendo, but his voice went a little lower when he said it, in a way that made Rey’s stomach tighten a little bit.

“You’re welcome to, but I can’t guarantee comfort,” she said as they reached the door.

“I’ll risk it,” Ben said, and she led him inside.

She felt crazy and reckless, bringing this guy she just met up to where she _lived._ If her friends were here, they’d be cheering her on, but Rey also realized that without them, she had nobody to notice if anything bad happened to her.

The security guard at the front desk scanned Rey’s ID and took Ben’s license-- Rey blushed at how juvenile it must seem to have to be signed in to her building, but Ben didn’t seem to mind. “I haven’t been in a college dorm in years,” he said, once they were alone in the stairwell. “I’d forgotten what they’re like.”

“Prisons?” Rey asked with a smile.

“They have a certain charm,” Ben said. “Especially the old ones like this.”

They climbed the stairs to the third floor, and Rey let him into her room. “Welcome to my humble abode,” she joked, leading him into the tight space. She was lucky enough to get a single, but it was an odd room, small and cramped and oddly shaped. She guessed that it had originally been meant to be a storage closet or a laundry room or something, being somewhat triangular to accommodate the odd angle that the building turned at to follow the shape of the street. It was narrow on the hallway side and wider in the back, with the one big window taking up most of the back wall. Her bed was on the right, raised to allow her dresser to fit underneath, and her desk and small wardrobe were on the left. Rey set the kettle on, which lived on her desk, and Ben sat down on the edge of her bed, having essentially no other option besides the wooden desk chair she was currently leaning over to reach the kettle.

“This is really cute,” Ben said, looking around at all the plants hanging around the window and the blueprints for various mechanical devices on the walls.

“I know it’s cramped,” Rey said. “But it’s cheap.”

“I like it,” Ben said. “It has personality.”

Rey poured two cups of herbal tea and handed one to Ben before hopping up on the bed next to him, not wanting to be awkward by sitting on the desk chair several feet below. With the odd angle of the walls, the bed had a pretty good view out the window, where Ben was currently looking. “Is that the pho place we just went to?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Rey said. “My million dollar view.

“I like looking out the window and watching people milling about,” Ben said. “My new place is a little too high for good people-watching.”

“Where do you live?” Rey asked.

Ben leaned over to get a better look out the window, then pointed. “One of the big tall buildings over that way. Not far.”

“The rent must be horrific,” Rey said, before she had the chance to wonder whether that was a rude thing to blurt out or not.

“It’s actually a condo, but you’re right, the price was absolutely atrocious.”

“I’d love to be able to buy myself a place in the city someday,” Rey said.

“Are you planning on staying here when you graduate?” Ben asked.

“If I can afford it,” Rey laughed. “And if I can get an employer to sponsor me.”

“With an engineering degree from this school, I wouldn’t worry,” Ben said. “But you won’t want to return home?”

Rey shook her head. “There’s nothing for me there.”

“Not even your family?”

Rey gulped. Here was the awkward part. Might as well rip the band-aid off. “I actually don’t have any,” she said. “I was abandoned as a toddler and I’ve been in foster homes ever since. When I aged out, I was lucky enough to get a full scholarship to come to the US and study here, and now I’ve made friends and everything. I don’t want to leave.”

“It’ll work out,” Ben said. “You’ll be able to stay.” He set his mug down on the windowsill before reaching over to wrap his arm around Rey’s shoulders. She leaned into his side, knowing she shouldn’t get too cozy if she doesn’t want to give him the wrong idea, but feeling so safe surrounded by his warmth.

“What about you?” Rey asked. “Where are you from?”

“I’m a city boy,” Ben said. “Born and raised here-- well, mostly. My mom sent me away to a boarding school my uncle runs for high school because I was an angsty little brat, but I came back here for college and then got recruited by First Order.”

“I can’t imagine you being a _little_ anything,” Rey jabbed, wrapping her hand around his thick forearm.

Ben laughed, and Rey could feel his chest shake where she was leaning on it. “Maybe not little,” he said. “Maybe gangly. I bulked out in college.”

“So did I,” Rey joked, and Ben wrapped his hands around her waist, gently squeezing and then lightly tickling her sides. Rey squeaked, almost spilling her tea in her surprise. Ben took the mug, setting it aside with his before returning his hands to her waist. 

“You are incredibly gorgeous,” Ben said, running his hands up her sides and leaning over her shoulder so that his words were spoken against her neck.

Rey blushed, not really knowing how to respond. She had never dated in high school and had barely tried in college, so this entire situation was foreign to her.

She didn’t understand it, but she wanted more of it. She knew she shouldn’t let things go too far-- she hardly _knew_ this guy-- but his hands were so big and warm and his voice against her neck was so...

She turned her head to reply, but instead was met with his lips brushing against hers, and suddenly he had her mouth captured in a searing kiss.

Alarm bells went off in her head-- this was her first kiss, and she had _just met_ this guy, for fuck’s sake-- but before she had time to contemplate that, she realized how much she was enjoying it.

Ben eased her back so that she was lying on the bed, Ben hovering over her as he continued to explore her mouth. One of his hands laced with hers, pinning it to the pillow above her head, while the other gripped her waist, fingers pressing into the thin fabric of her dress. She let out a tiny moan, and he responded with a deep _growl,_ his mouth moving to her neck to bite and suck at the delicate skin there. She could feel the bulge growing between his legs where it rubbed against her thigh, and finally it hit her where this was going.

“Wait, Ben, stop, I--”

_________________

Rey felt _so good._ Better than Ben had imagined, even. Her small body was so responsive, and she let out the softest little gasps when he nipped at her neck. He was already hard, and he wondered if Rey could feel it against the bare skin of her thigh where her skirt had ridden up a little. He wondered what she was wearing under it, wondered if he could touch--

“Wait, Ben, stop, I--”

He leaned back a bit, releasing his mouth from her neck and studying her face. She was flushed, which would normally be a good thing, but her face had twisted into an expression of trepidation.

“Are you okay?” he asked, gently stroking his thumb along her cheek, hoping he could soothe the unease from her face.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s just a little too…”

“Too fast?” he supplied.

She nodded, and he shifted over so that he was no longer caging her under his body, pulling her into him and pressing a kiss to her temple. “I’m sorry. Can we lay like this for a minute?”

Rey nodded again, cuddling into the warmth of his side and resting her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Ben said, stroking her side. “It’s my fault. I pushed too far too soon.” He laced his fingers with hers, bringing their joined hands up to kiss her knuckles. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Rey said. “Thank you for, um, understanding.”

“Of course,” he said. “When can I see you again?”

Rey thought about it. “I work tomorrow, but I’m off again the day after that.”

“Would you like to have dinner again?”

Rey smiled. “That would be great.”

_____________________

Ben had gone home after a few more minutes of cuddling and talking softly about the pizza place he wanted to take her on Thursday. He’d left her with one final, soft kiss on his way out before making his way down to the security desk. Rey watched out the window as his massive form retreated down the sidewalk and disappeared around the corner.

When he was out of view, she lay back against her pillows, thinking back on what had just happened. She was glad she had stopped them-- or at least, she knew she needed to-- but her mind was filled with thoughts about what might have happened if she hadn’t, if she’d just kept kissing him back. Would he have taken her dress off? Would they have had sex?

Rey didn’t feel any particular attachment to the concept of virginity, but she did feel as though she wanted her first time to be special, or at least somewhat good. She’d never imagined that it could be with a random guy from Tinder, but Ben didn’t feel random at all. Something about him seemed to light all her nerves on fire, and she was still flushed just thinking about how it had felt to have his hands all over her, his mouth on her neck, his dick against her…

Rey slid her hand up her thigh, feeling the wet patch on the lace of her panties. She knew she’d be wet, but she was surprised to realize how _soaked_ she was. She slid her hand under the waistband, fingers running along the slippery surface of her entrance. She circled her clit, imagining what might have happened if Ben had been the one sliding his hand under her skirt…

She closed her eyes, picturing Ben looming over her, pressing his thick fingers between her legs. She stroked harder, imagining him leaning down to press his full lips to her--

She came, hard, to the thought of Ben’s face between her legs. Thursday couldn’t arrive fast enough.

_______________

Ben had stayed with Rey long enough that his erection had mostly subsided, at least long enough for him to walk the ten minutes back to his place, but as soon as he was alone in his bedroom, taking off his clothes to get ready for bed, it was back. He couldn’t get the sound of the little moan she had made out of his head. He wanted to hear it again, louder, maybe in the shape of his name. He cursed himself for overstepping tonight, but he didn’t think he’d fucked it up completely; she had cuddled him enthusiastically afterward, so she probably didn’t hate him now. He abandoned his clothes on the floor by his closet to deal with later and flopped back on his bed, wrapping a fist around his cock. Immediately, his imagination supplied him with images of Rey, on her knees in front of him or laying against his pillows, her head tilted back in ecstasy. He imagined fucking her in that tiny dorm room, his tall frame taking up the entire bed as he made the frame shake.

That was the image that got him off, and as he cleaned himself up to go to sleep, he prayed that he could keep himself from fucking up before that ever happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading <3 let me know what you think and if there are any tags you think I should add!


	3. Takeout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The city is shutting down, and Rey's entire life is impacted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooooo! Sorry this one took a while; I was struggling to figure out how to make it work. I hope you guys like it <3

Ben stepped out of the shower after his morning workout, which was slightly less fulfilling in his spare room with his limited workout equipment than it would have been in the gym downstairs with a full squat rack and machines and a floor he could drop a heavy barbell on without damaging hardwood. He went to get dressed and realized that he didn’t really need a suit today just to work from home. He put on a shirt and tie anyway, in case he had any video calls, but opted for sweatpants since nobody would be able to see him from the shoulders down.

Once he was logged in on his computer with a cup of coffee on his desk, he decided to send Rey a text.

**Good morning**

_morning :)_

Her response came almost immediately. Good. She was still talking to him.

**How did you sleep?**

_good :) just woke up actually_

_you?_

**I slept well. Just finished working out, now I’m getting started with work.**

_i’m working the double today, so i’m going in soon_

**A double shift? That sounds like a long time to work.**

_usually somewhere between 10 and 12 hours, probably more like 10 today, it’s been slow_

_i need the hours anyway lol_

**Do you think you’re going to get shut down?**

_what? why?_

**I saw on the news that some cities are closing bars and restaurants because of the coronavirus. Haven’t heard anything about this city yet though.**

_oh shit. no, haven’t heard anything_

____________________

The announcement came at noon: all bars and restaurants in the city were closing with the exception of takeout. Rey heard the mayor announce it in a live press release while she was drinking her coffee behind the empty bar, all the business people who usually came in for lunch either working from home or afraid of the virus. Her boss, Maz, crossed her arms, gripping her forearms in her hands as she stared at the screen through her round glasses. “We’re going to have to close,” Maz said as the news report moved to a discussion of the new ordinances to stop the spread of the virus. “I’m sorry, we don’t do enough takeout business to justify staying open. We’ll lose money.”

A weight formed at the pit of Rey’s stomach. If Kanata closed, she couldn’t make any money. That meant the savings she’d put aside to pay rent during her internship would have to be used to pay for any expenses she had now, which meant she’d have to take on extra shifts toward the end of the semester to make up for it, unless they couldn’t open again for the rest of the semester…

Rey shook her head, swallowing the lump in her throat. She couldn’t dwell on that now.

The bar stayed more or less dead until about 6:00 PM, when all of the sudden it began to fill up. “It’s the last supper,” some of the customers joked, talking about how they needed to have one last meal out before they would be barred from doing so for at least another two weeks.

Rey scrambled to make sure that the drinks flowed and the food came out on time. Since it had been so slow the last couple weeks, Rey was the only bartender on, and although she could have used the help from having Kaydel work with her, she was grateful that she would be picking up all the tips. And the tips were good, unusually so; the customers seemed to realize that she would be out of work for a while and were trying to help make up for it.

When it was all over, Rey sat down to do her report and count her tips, shocked to see that she’d made almost four hundred dollars, way more than what she usually took in for a weeknight in March. When she finally got home, she changed into her pajamas and collapsed on her bed, checking her phone for the first time since before she’d started working.

**Looks like our city is shutting down too. Hope you’re OK**

_i’ll be ok. out of work for a while though. i’m going to be really bored with another week of break and not even work to keep me busy lol_

**Are you still down to have dinner tomorrow? We won’t be able to go out, but the place I told you about is staying open for takeout, so would you like to maybe come over and eat at my place?**

Rey read his message over, contemplating. Half of her was terrified of the prospect of going over to this strange guy’s apartment by herself, but the other half of her was excited by the idea of seeing where he lived. She considered offering to have him over for pizza here, but she realized that her tiny dorm room wasn’t the best place to host. She sighed, deciding to go for it. 

_sure :) what’s the address?_

Rey looked up the address he sent her on her phone. Maps said it was only a ten minute walk in the direction of the harbor. It was right in the middle of downtown; Rey wondered if he was making a lot at First Order.

**6 PM still good?**

_perfect :)_

Rey spent most of the next day stressing about her finances. She would be okay, but barely; as long as the dining halls stayed open in some capacity so she didn’t have to pay for groceries out of pocket, she should be fine. And as long as she didn’t get sick. Fuck.

The to-go meals provided by the dining hall were even worse than the slim pickings of normal spring break food. It seemed like a lot of the other break housing students had left the city, so it was only Rey and a couple other sad looking international students filling brown paper bags with takeout boxes of chicken and rice and some weird bean salad. None of them interacted or spoke to each other, but when their eyes met they shared a deep understanding. _We’re fucked._

Rey took her food up to her room and ate half of it at her desk while watching funny YouTube videos she hoped would distract her from her current predicament, then stuffed the leftovers into the mostly empty mini-fridge under her bed that she’d bought used from a student who graduated last year. She checked the clock, realizing it was finally late enough that she could justify starting to get ready for her date with Ben tonight.

She didn’t really need to get dressed up for what would probably turn out to be pizza and a movie on the couch, but she wanted to at least look cute. She put on a pair of black leggings and a soft, long sleeve top that was ruched down the middle. She decided to skip a bra; it looked better that way.

She fixed her hair into three buns and checked her phone. Still two more hours.

___________________

Ben finished replying to an email from one of his engineers and picked up his phone. He’d wanted to text Rey all day, but knew he wouldn’t get any work done if he allowed himself to be distracted. Unlike most other industries, which were essentially shutting down with the restrictions, First Order was as busy as ever, their clients needing to make sure that their online services were still available in order to do what little business they could. 

At 4:30, he finally let himself send Rey a message.

**What kind of pizza do you like? I figured I would pick it up before you get here.**

_how do you feel about pineapple?_

**Pineapple? That’s controversial. You’re lucky, though, I’m a fan.**

_i knew i had a good feeling about you_

**Your intuition must be excellent. I can’t wait to see you tonight.**

At 5, Ben wrapped up his last phone meeting and called it quits. He stopped at the drugstore first to make sure he had enough shampoo and deodorant to last him if he got stuck at home for weeks, deciding at the last minute to pick up a box of condoms too-- _just in case_. He picked up the pizza, plus a salad and a box of cannolis, and by six he had the food set up on the coffee table with a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses.

_________________

Rey knocked on the door to Ben’s condo. It was the nicest building she’d ever been in in this city; everyone she knew either lived in the dorms or one of the older apartment buildings on the outskirts of the city, maybe a multi-family in the near suburbs. This place had a concierge downstairs who had been _expecting_ her, who let her into the elevator bay and told her what floor to go to.

Ben answered the door, and Rey was first startled by how good he looked in a plain black T-shirt, and then by how nice his place was. The kitchen had black granite countertops and a huge island with barstools lining one side, and was open into the living area, where she could see the harbor through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

“Hey, glad you could make it,” Ben said, leading her into the living area.

“Nice place,” Rey said, stepping over to the windows. “Nice view.”

“I like it,” Ben said. “Not as good for people-watching as yours, though.”

Rey laughed. “Somehow, I don’t think you’d trade.”

She took a seat on the black leather couch next to him as he poured her a glass of wine and handed her a plate with a slice of pizza. Rey had forgotten that for _real_ adults, alcohol was something you could enjoy casually with a meal, not something your friend’s friend’s older boyfriend smuggled into your dorm so that you could do shots of cheap liquor before a party. 

“The pizza is excellent,” Rey said. “You have good taste.”

“Thank you for acknowledging my expertise,” Ben said. “Better than the dining hall food?”

Rey made a face. “It’s gotten worse. It really was not meant to be takeout.”

“I’m so glad I’m not a student right now,” Ben said. “My life gets to proceed like normal, just without actually going to the office. Or the gym. I think I’ll miss the gym more.”

“I can see you and the gym are well acquainted,” Rey quipped, staring at his biceps, which were exposed to her for the first time.

A hint of a smile flashed across Ben’s face. “I have some equipment up here. I won’t go completely soft in quarantine.”

“I should hope not,” Rey said, and Ben seemed to choke on a bite of pizza for a second while they both realized the opening for a double entendre there.

“Should we put on the news and see what we’re supposed to be panicking about now?” Ben asked.

Rey sighed. “I want to say no, because I really don’t want to think about it right now, but it seems like it’s changing by the minute and I don’t have a TV in my dorm room, so we should probably see what’s going on.”

Ben turned on the TV, where the governor was doing a press conference. Apparently he had just issued a “stay at home” advisory, requiring all non-essential businesses to close and all state residents to stay at home except for essential functions. “I really like my cozy little dorm room,” Rey said, “but if I have to stay in that shoebox for two weeks without going anywhere, I think I’m going to lose my mind.”

_You know, my place is pretty roomy,_ Ben wanted to say. _1300 square feet, big windows…_ He kept his thoughts to himself, though, not sure the second date was quite the time to convince someone to spend two weeks in isolation with you.

“The Coronavirus is having a major impact on local colleges and universities,” a news anchor said when the feed switched away from the governor’s press conference. “I’m here outside Chandrila University, where students have just received some shocking news.”

“That’s my dorm,” Rey said, her eyes suddenly glued to the screen.

The camera cut to a student Rey didn’t know but could remember seeing coming in and out of her building during spring break, speaking into a microphone held by the news anchor. “I came downstairs to go get food, and my RA was hanging up signs all over the lobby saying that the dorm was being evacuated. Then I got an email from the university, telling us that all of the dorms are being completely closed for two weeks, even for students with break housing.”

“And tell us,” the anchor said, “How is this going to impact you and the other students with break housing?”

“I mean, for me it could be worse, I have break housing because I work for one of the labs and our experiment continues even during breaks, but now that everything is shutting down I don’t have to go to work anymore so I can go stay with my parents for a little while. It’s the international kids who are really screwed, you know, some of them are from China or Italy and really can’t get back.”

Ben reached for Rey’s hand. She was an international student, and based on their conversation in her dorm room, it seemed like she wouldn’t have anywhere to go even if she could get back to the UK. He was suddenly completely torn-- he was devastated for Rey, whose eyes were visibly wetting, but he also realized that _this was his opening._

________________

A lump formed in Rey’s throat. She grabbed for her phone on the coffee table, seeing that she had an email from the university, just like the kid on the news. She couldn’t believe what she was reading. They were just _kicking her out?_

Ben squeezed her hand, seemingly reading over her shoulder. “When does it go into effect?” he asked.

“Noon tomorrow,” Rey said, her voice cracking.

“Come on,” Ben said. “Let’s go get your stuff.”

“What?”

“Come quarantine here. I have everything we need. It’ll be fun.”

Rey could feel a fat tear break loose from her eye, running down her face and smattering on the front of her top. “I couldn’t do that to you, that’s such a big--”

“Rey, look at me,” Ben said, turning Rey’s chin so that she met his eyes. “If I am going to be stuck in this apartment for two weeks without any human contact, I am going to _lose my goddamn mind._ ” There was an intensity to Ben’s gaze that Rey hadn’t seen before, almost like a layer had been peeled off. “This way, we’ll have company. I have a ton of food, I have exercise equipment, I have a washer and dryer so that you don’t have to worry about getting the virus from a laundromat. I have really good internet, so if your classes get moved online, you won’t miss anything. It’s a perfect situation.”

Rey stared at him, unable to formulate a response. Accepting an invitation to stay at a stranger’s house for _two weeks_ was _insane_. However, the reality slowly sank in that she had nowhere else to go.

Her next best option was to see if one of her friends from school could host her, but that was also a huge thing to ask, and most of them were out of state, meaning she’d have to shell out for plane tickets when she was already running out of money without the ability to work. She could get a hotel room, but her savings would dry up long before the restrictions were lifted, and then she’d be left with nothing saved for the summer.

This was crazy, and yet, it was somehow also her most practical option.

Once that realization was made, Rey allowed herself a moment to imagine what it would be like to be sequestered in this apartment with Ben. The place itself was a dream: spacious, full of windows, immaculately kept. And then there was Ben himself-- she’d only just met him, yet somehow she felt drawn to him.

“Okay,” Rey said softly. “Thank you. I would really appreciate that.”

“Don’t thank me,” Ben said. “If I die of the Coronavirus, I would like there to be another living soul around to inform my mother.”

____________

Ben walked Rey back to her dorm to pack her things. He was surprised by how little there was to pack; her school backpack held her laptop and books, and then she piled clothes and some personal items into a small suitcase. Ben took the suitcase for her, and she carried her two potted plants in her hands. “They’ll die if I leave them,” she said. They made their way back to his apartment, making a point not to touch any door handles or surfaces on their way.

Once they were inside, Ben set Rey’s suitcase down in the corner and led her back to the sofa, pouring them each another glass of wine.

“I’m going to be honest,” Ben said. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to accept my invitation, but I’m so relieved you did.”

“Why is that?” Rey asked, taking a sip of her wine and curling her legs up in front of her.

“I guess…” Ben paused, trying to gather the right words. “This is really strange, and I guess now I don’t feel like I’m dealing with it completely alone.”

“I deal with most things alone,” Rey said. “I guess that’s just how I expect it to be.”

“Me too, for the most part,” Ben said. “Maybe not to the same extent-- definitely not. Maybe it’s usually my fault. But that’s how it usually is.”

“Why do you feel alone?” Rey asked.

Ben sighed. He felt bad-- he knew Rey’s reasons for feeling alone were probably way more legitimate than his, but he figured he should at least let her in a little bit. “My parents were both very busy, ‘important’ people. All my life, it’s felt like they’ve never really had time for me. They care, but usually the way they show it has been to try to control my life. I didn’t want to go to my uncle’s boarding school, and at the time I felt like my parents were just dumping me on him so they wouldn’t have to deal with me. My mom wanted me to come and work for her when I graduated college; she had it all planned out since I was a freshman. When the recruiters at First Order started contacting me, I was all in because I knew it would piss her off that I was ruining her plans.”

“Are you and your mother close now?” Rey asked.

Ben sighed. “I think she’d like us to be closer.”

“What about you?”

“I don’t know,” Ben said. “There’s a lot of unfinished stuff left on the table. Things we haven’t dealt with. My dad passed a few years ago-- heart attack-- and we’ve both been dealing with that in different ways.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Rey said.

Ben nodded. “It’s been a while. I’ve been working through it.”

“My parents have both passed, too,” Rey said. “Not that I actually remember them at all. I was notified through the foster system after they died; they were able to trace them back to me somehow.”

“Did you go to their funeral?” Ben asked.

Rey shook her head. “I don’t know if there was one. If there was, it had probably already happened. I didn’t go looking for any more details. I didn’t want to be disappointed.”

“Disappointed?” Ben asked.

“When I was little, I used to pretend that my parents were out there looking for me, that they left me behind by mistake and wanted me back. I would come up with different identities for them, different jobs, different reasons they accidentally got separated from me. As I got older, I realized there was no way any of that could be true. I think they knew exactly where I was, and didn’t want me to find them. When they died, I decided not to find out, because either way, I don’t have a family. If I learned that they were awful people who left me on purpose, I’d be disappointed. If I learned that they truly loved me and had spent the rest of their lives searching for me, I might be even more disappointed, because I could have had a family and now I never will because they’re dead. I decided I didn’t want to know.”

“That’s not true,” Ben said, his arm slipping around Rey’s waist.

“What’s not true?” she asked.

“That you’ll never have a family. You will. Maybe not like you would have, but I’m sure you will.”

_______________

Rey’s face burned with the effort of holding back her tears, and she failed when a few hot droplets made their way down. Normally, she wasn’t one to cry in front of anyone, but she was so emotionally on edge today and Ben’s voice was so soothing that it was hard to keep it in.

Ben’s arms tightened around her, pulling her into his lap, and she buried her face in his neck, trying to hide her tears but knowing he could feel them wetting the collar of his shirt.

“It’s okay,” Ben said quietly, his voice rumbling deep in his chest. “I’m not going anywhere.”

They sat like that for a while, Ben putting on some random sitcom as Rey slowly began to relax. This situation was insane, but she somehow felt better knowing that she wouldn’t be alone, at least for now.

She tilted her head back, watching Ben’s face. He met her eyes, and she did what felt natural to her in the moment, reaching up and kissing Ben’s mouth.

Ben reacted immediately, tightening his arms around her and kissing her back. Rey fidgeted, trying to get a better angle, settling on moving one of her legs so she was straddling him on the couch. Ben groaned, gripping her hip with his hand and moving his mouth to her neck. 

At the new sensation, Rey let out a tiny noise she didn’t even realize she could make, subconsciously grinding her hips against Ben’s lap. She could feel him respond in kind, before his mouth left her neck to hover near her ear.

“Sweetheart, if you want to take this slow, this position might make that a bit more difficult.”

Rey swallowed, leaning back to meet his eyes. “Maybe I’m ready to hurry up a little bit.”

Ben’s eyes darkened. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific, because there’s a lot I’d like to hurry up and do with you.”

Overcome with a bravery she didn’t know she possessed, Rey bit her lip. “Show me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think! I am sorry this one is a little angsty; I wanted them to have a little more of a connection before all the quarantine fun. That, and Rey's life basically got thrown out the window, so she's a little upset. The next chapter should be a lot more fun!


	4. Overnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey spends the night; Ben works from home and Rey finds a way to help out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This is my first time writing a legit smut chapter so I hope it's fun! Let me know what you think! We're picking up right where Ch 3 left off.

Ben’s expression shifted to something dark and exciting at Rey’s last words. “Can I show you my room?” he asked.

Rey nodded, attempting to stand up before Ben took hold of her and stood, carrying her down the short hallway. She wrapped her arms around his neck, sucking a hard kiss onto his throat. “Normally I’d tell you not to leave a mark,” he said, his voice rumbling under Rey’s lips, “But given the circumstances, anything that will fade within two weeks shouldn’t be a problem.”

Rey pulled back, blushing. She’d never given anyone a hickey before, but she supposed that was how it was done. 

Ben set her down on the edge of the bed and turned to flick the bedside lamp on, leaving the room with a warm glow that wasn’t too bright. Rey used the second of inactivity to glance around at her surroundings. The room was fairly neat, filled with matching sleek, black furniture. The bed was massive and the covers felt soft, much nicer than the cheap sheets she had in her dorm. She almost felt embarrassed that she’d let Ben see her tiny room, but any thoughts of cramped student housing fled her mind when Ben turned back toward her, clutching her hips with his hands as he took control of her mouth. She felt his hands slide up underneath her shirt, and she raised her arms almost instinctively, giving him encouragement to peel it off.

Ben broke the kiss to gaze down at her, groaning when he saw that she hadn’t been wearing anything underneath. “You’re gorgeous,” he said, holding her by the ribs and sliding his thumbs across her nipples. She let out a soft moan before grabbing at the hem of his shirt. 

Ben took the hint, ridding himself of the garment before returning his attention to Rey, kissing his way down her neck and trailing his mouth toward her chest. Rey wanted to explore the way the muscles of his chest rippled when he moved, but the feeling of his lips on her skin was too distracting. When he sucked a nipple into his mouth, her eyes snapped shut, allowing her to just appreciate the sensation.

Ben’s attention seemed focused on her chest, but she felt his fingers drift downward, toying with the band of her leggings. She leaned back on her elbows, lifting her hips slightly. When he looked up to meet her eyes, she nodded, and he smiled, hooking his thumbs into them and sliding them down, her panties included. 

Now completely naked, Rey could feel the cool air against her skin, and she became starkly aware of how _wet_ she was. Ben dragged her further up the bed, climbing up after her so that he knelt between her legs. His mouth returned to her body, kissing a trail from her sternum down toward her belly button. When he continued his descent, pressing a kiss to the top of Rey’s thigh, she realized where he was headed.

“May I?” he whispered.

“You don’t have to, if you don’t--” Rey began, her voice wavering slightly, whether with arousal or nerves she wasn’t sure.

“I’m not offering, I’m begging,” Ben said, lightly stroking Rey’s waist with one massive hand while the other wrapped around her hip.

“O-okay,” Rey whispered.

Any preconceived ideas Rey could have had about what it would feel like to have Ben’s mouth on her could never have compared to the reality. She let out a soft gasp the second he touched her, and once he started gently licking at her clit, she knew she wasn’t far off. He slid her legs over his shoulders to get a better angle, and when his tongue switched to a harder, flicking pattern, her soft noises came out in time with his rhythm. She dug her fingers into his hair, gripping the long strands like a lifeline.

Ben slipped a finger inside her, slowly fucking her while his mouth kept steady on her clit. He added a second finger, and Rey’s legs began to shake. She had never had this much stimulation, and she could feel the sensation of something building.

Ben’s other hand reached up, gripping her breast. “Come for me, baby,” he rasped, returning his lips to her body and gently pinching her nipple.

That did it, and Rey came with a shout, all the muscles in her body tensing and then relaxing as she collapsed against the bed.

Ben continued to lap at her clit until she reached down and pushed at his forehead. “Too much,” she gasped. “Sensitive.”

He smiled, kissing his way back up her body and nipping at her neck. “That was fun,” he whispered.

“Mmm-mhh,” Rey said, her body still contracting slightly with the aftershocks of her orgasm. 

Ben pulled her closer, and she finally had the opportunity to explore his body. She ran her hands along the muscles of his chest, licking a line down the indentation in the center of his abs. He moaned and rolled onto his back to give her better access, and she took it, kissing his stomach and tracing the lines that formed a V down below his waistband. 

Rey unbuttoned his jeans and went for his zipper, but he intercepted, ridding himself of the jeans quickly. Left in only his underwear, Rey checked him out, noticing the strong thighs and massive bulge. She went for his underwear, dragging them down until his cock sprang free. 

“Oh, shit,” Rey whispered, tentatively wrapping a hand around it. It was warm and kind of velvety, and the tip leaked a little bit onto her hand.

“Is everything okay?” Ben asked.

“Yeah,” Rey said. “I’m just not sure if this is going to fit.”

Ben laughed. “It’ll fit.” He took his underwear the rest of the way off, tossing them aside with the small pile of clothes they’d left on the floor. He pulled Rey into his lap so that he could whisper in her ear. “Do you want me to prove it now?”

Rey moaned, nodding. She could feel his cock against her and she squirmed, trying to get a better angle to feel him.

“I want to hear you say it,” he whispered.

“Please fuck me, Ben,” she said.

Ben groaned. “Good girl.” He lifted her off of him, setting her down against the pillows. She whined when he leaned away from her to open the nightstand drawer, but realized what he was doing when she heard the crinkle of foil. He rolled the condom on, repositioning himself so that he hovered over her. “Are you ready?” he asked, nipping at her ear.

Rey nodded, and she could feel the head of his cock pushing against her as he lined himself up. She clung to his back, trying to relax as he slowly pressed into her. “So tight,” he moaned. “Are you okay?”

Rey nodded, her body finally adjusting to the biggest stretch she’d ever had to make.

“So tight,” he murmured. “So good. Can I move, baby?”

“Please,” she whispered.

It was overwhelming, but in a good way, she realized. The initial burn began to subside into something much more enjoyable as he rocked into her, and she began to thrust back, wrapping her legs around him for leverage. “Fuck,” he said. “Good, so good. You’re taking my cock so well.”

Rey whined, realizing she was on the edge of coming again, needing something more but not sure what.

“Touch yourself,” Ben commanded, as if he could read her mind.

He was right; after only a few strokes she came again, contracting around him as he ground into her. He began to speed up, losing his steady rhythm and becoming more wild as he came closer to the edge himself. “God, Rey, you’re unbelievable,” he growled. She scraped her nails down his back as she felt him start to lose control, biting down on her shoulder as he came.

_________________

Ben held on to her like that for a few moments as they caught their breath, the sweat on his back beginning to cool, before he finally slid out of her, coming to rest beside her and pulling her in for a kiss. “How was that?” he asked.

“Amazing,” Rey said, and by the soft smile on her lips, he believed she was telling the truth.

Ben grinned. “Amazing enough that you’d do it with me again sometime?”

“Well, it looks like I’m going to be stuck here for a bit,” Rey said. “I could think of worse ways to spend quarantine.”

“I’m going to go clean up,” Ben said. “There’s another bathroom down the hall if you need it. Feel free to join me in the shower when you’re done.”

Ben stood, stretching and making his way to the ensuite to get rid of the condom. He couldn’t believe this was happening; his literal quarantine fantasy had come true. He got the shower going, leaving the door partially open as an invitation before stepping into the warm water.

He grabbed the bottle of shower gel from the shelf, beginning the process of washing all the sweat off his body. This bathroom, after the windows and the view from the living room, was his favorite thing about this place. The shower and bathtub were separate; the shower was wide, with a stone floor and fancy showerhead, and it was separated from the rest of the bathroom by a sliding glass door. The bath, which was in the other corner, was massive and could easily fit two people. He hoped he’d get to spend some time there with Rey this week; so far he’d only ever used it by himself to relax after a particularly stressful day of work. It seemed like a waste of a romantic venue.

The glass door of the shower slid aside slightly, and Rey peeked her head in. “Hi,” she said, her cheeks taking on an adorable shade of pink.

“Come on in,” Ben said, reaching out to take her hand as she stepped into the shower.

“This is a cool bathroom,” she said as she stepped into the warm spray of the water.

“It’s pretty nice,” Ben said, running his fingers through Rey’s hair, which had been completely messed up by their earlier activities. Ben turned her around by the shoulders so that she faced away from him, then grabbed the bottle of shampoo, pouring some out into his hand and working it into her scalp.

She giggled and leaned into him, smiling over her shoulder. “Are you washing my hair?”

“You have nice hair,” he said.

When he finished washing and conditioning her hair, she washed his back, massaging his muscles as she went. “You’re going to be on your own for shampoo,” she said. “I don’t think I can reach that high.”

They finished their shower, and Ben grabbed them some towels, leading her back to the bedroom. “Are you tired?” he asked. Rey nodded. He lifted her back onto the bed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I’m glad you decided to stay with me,” he said. “I hope you’re happy with it too.

“I am,” Rey said. “I’m glad it’s with you.”

Ben kissed her, soaking in the details of her wet hair falling into her face and the towel she’d wrapped around herself coming loose to fall open in the middle, revealing freshly cleaned, tan skin. “Let’s get to bed, shall we?”

____________

Rey had pajamas in her bag that she’d brought from her dorm, but when Ben handed her a shirt to sleep in, she didn’t refuse. She cuddled up to him under the sheets of his massive bed, feeling relaxed in a way she hadn’t been able to since things started shutting down due to the virus. There was still a lot to worry about, but at least now, she could let herself rest.

Ben wrapped his arm around her, his other hand resting on the thigh of the leg that was curled around his. “I have to work from home tomorrow,” he said. “Feel free to do whatever you want during that time. Or just sleep through it. I don’t think it’s going to be a long day for me.”

“Okay,” Rey said. 

Ben stroked his hand up and down her thigh, and she could practically feel the smirk that was beginning to spread across his face. 

“What’s that look for?” she demanded.

“You thought it wouldn’t fit,” Ben said, chuckling quietly.

“Don’t be an ass,” Rey said. “How was I supposed to know? I’d never done that before.” Rey realized what she’d said as soon as she saw Ben’s face shift, the smirk disappearing and replaced by something else. 

“What do you mean?” he asked.

Rey stared back at him, not sure what to say.

“Was that your first time?” he asked.

“Yes,” Rey said, realizing there was no way she could lie to him at this point.

“Baby, you should have told me,” he said. “I would have--”

Rey shushed him, tangling her fingers with his. “It was perfect. I loved it.” Ben still looked bewildered, so she continued. “I wanted to do it, and I’m glad I did.”

Ben leaned down to kiss her. “How the hell did I get this lucky?”

“I don’t know,” Rey said. “I feel pretty lucky myself.”

Rey awoke to the sound of pots and pans clanging. At first, she was confused; random noises at random times were pretty typical in the dorms when class was in session, but all through Spring Break things had been more or less silent. She then took in the much larger bed that she was lying in, the soft sheets that surrounded her, and the massive shirt she was wearing, and remembered where she was.

Ben wasn’t in bed with her, but that made sense, considering he’d told her he had to work from home. She rolled out of bed, finding her hairbrush in one of the bags she’d brought and quickly fixing the mess on her head. When she emerged, she found Ben in the kitchen, with eggs frying and bacon sizzling. “Morning,” she said.

Ben smiled when he saw her. “You’re awake,” he said. “Cup of coffee?”

Rey nodded, taking a seat at one of the barstools at the kitchen island. Ben set the coffee in front of her, along with the cream and sugar, and went back to cooking. 

“Did you sleep well?” Rey asked.

“Incredibly well,” Ben said. “I hope I didn’t wake you up with my cooking.”

“I don’t mind,” Rey said. 

Ben set two plates of food down on the island and poured another cup of coffee before joining her. “Worked up an appetite last night,” he said. “Are you sore?”

Rey shrugged. “Maybe a tiny bit. Nothing bad.” She saw the concerned expression on his face, and leaned over, kissing his cheek. “Stop worrying,” she said. “I’m happy.”

Ben nodded, taking a few bites of his food. “It’s so weird to wake up and get ready to go nowhere,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve stayed inside all day in my life.”

Rey nodded. “Before spring break, I never really spent a lot of time in my dorm room. Now I’m glad I spent so much time there this week, limits the exposure I might have had.”

Ben nodded. “I’m glad I at least have a job I can do from home,” he said. “It would suck to be stuck at home with nothing to do.” Rey shot him an amused glance, and he realized what he’d said. “You’ll have classes starting again online, won’t you?”

Rey nodded. “At least. It’s going to suck having to convert my engineering labs into online classes. I don’t know how that’s going to work. I’m just glad I’m not a senior.”

“The seniors might not get commencement,” Ben said. “Rough time to graduate.”

They finished their breakfast, and Ben retreated to his office to work. “If you want to use any of the weights while I’m working, just let me know,” Ben said on his way out of the kitchen. “The only bad time would be if I’m on a video call. My team might be a little confused if there’s randomly a hot girl working out in the background. I wouldn’t have a problem with it, but I need my people to focus.”

“I’ll probably be fine for now, but thanks,” Rey said. She set herself up with her laptop on the couch, checking her professors’ Moodle pages to see if any of them had posted any updates about how their online classes were structured. One of them had released an update, explaining how the Zoom class would work and uploading some coursework that would be due sometime after spring break. Happy to have something productive to do, Rey jumped on it, grabbing her textbook and taking notes on the corresponding text.

Around lunchtime, Rey started to feel hungry, so she took a look around Ben’s kitchen. It was well stocked; he must have been anticipating being stuck at home, because there was a lot of food here. She found the ingredients for sandwiches, and noticed he had a fancy-looking panini press on the counter.

She ducked her head into Ben’s office, checking to see if he was on a call before she spoke. “I was thinking of making myself a panini,” she said. “Can I make you one as well?”

Ben looked up from his computer. “That would be magical,” he said.

Rey smiled. “I’ll let you know when I’m finished.”

She put the sandwiches together, smiling at how nicely the panini press made them come out. She cut them each in half and put them on plates, setting them out on the kitchen island with two glasses of water and a couple of napkins. “Lunch is ready,” she said, stepping into Ben’s office. 

“Fantastic,” he said, pushing away from his desk and beginning to stand up, when the ringtone of whatever video conference software his company used began going off. “God damn it,” Ben said. “It’s Hux. This guy’s such a douche. 99% chance this call is just to annoy me and he has nothing productive to tell me.”

Rey smirked at Ben’s annoyance, and watched as he picked up the call. “Hux,” he said, not bothering with any other greeting.

“Solo. Good morning. I hope quarantine is treating you well.”

“It’s been… relaxing,” Ben said.

“I just wanted to give you a call to run some of the numbers for the upcoming project. I figured you would want someone to go over them with you.”

Rey could tell by the man’s tone that whatever that meant, it was somehow supposed to be condescending. Ben muted his microphone, tilting his coffee cup up to cover his mouth so that he could speak without Hux seeing his mouth move. “I was one-hundred-percent right,” he said. “This call is complete bullshit.”

Rey covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud, taking stock of the room and the camera. Ben was tall, so the webcam was angled up slightly, meaning that it couldn’t see much of the lower half of the room. Rey had an idea. She wasn’t sure if it was a good one or not, but she was bored of doing engineering homework by herself and decided she might as well find out. She stepped into the office, careful to make sure that she stayed out of the range of the camera, then sank down to the floor next to the desk.

Ben muted his microphone again. “What are you--” he whispered, but he was cut off when Hux asked a question and he had to unmute himself to answer it.

Rey crawled between him and the desk, kneeling between his knees and running a finger along his waistband.

“Weren’t you a virgin yesterday?” He whispered, one hand shielding his mouth with his coffee cup and the other controlling the mute button.

“Want me to stop?” Rey whispered.

“God, no,” Ben said, before responding to whatever Hux was on about.

Rey tugged at Ben’s pants, smirking at the fact that he was wearing sweatpants with a shirt and tie. She was able to free his cock without him having to adjust his posture, and she was proud to see that he was already hard. She wrapped her hands around his length, giving him a couple of experimental tugs before leaning down to wrap her mouth around the head.

She felt Ben tense at the sensation and ignored the drops of coffee that spilled onto her hair from his cup. Encouraged, she took more of him, working her hands and mouth together to get a rhythm going.

“I didn’t think you were this bad,” Ben said as Hux rambled on about numbers and budgets and contractors. Rey could tell by the way he said it that, in this instance, _bad_ was not a bad thing. He seemed to like _bad_. 

_I can be bad,_ Rey thought, continuing to suck his dick as he attempted to keep a straight face and stay still while he nodded along to Hux’s rambling. Sensing the video conference coming to an end, Rey reached one hand into his sweatpants to cup his balls, squeezing _very_ gently as one of her friends had said one ought to do. Ben suppressed a cry, one hand reaching down to tangle with Rey’s hair. “Thank you, Hux. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe my lunch is getting cold. Can we pick this back up later?” Rey could tell that Ben was struggling to keep his voice steady. Hux went to say something else, but Ben abruptly hung up the call.

“You little demon,” Ben said, his voice rough but not angry. “I almost came on that call. Do you realize how impossible it should be to get this hard while listening to Hux’s snippy little voice?”

Rey didn’t reply, just kept going, raising her eyes to meet his.

“I’m close,” he said, and when she made no effort to move, he tangled both hands into her hair, hips jerking slightly as he came in her mouth with a loud groan.

Rey swallowed, grabbing a tissue off the desk to gently clean Ben off before tucking him back into his sweatpants. Ben stood, helping her to her feet and pulling her into his chest. “That,” he whispered into her ear, “Was the hottest thing that’s ever happened on a First Order conference call.”

Rey leaned up to kiss him. “Let’s go eat,” she said. “I’m hungry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think in the comments/kudos, it warms my cold quarantined heart <3
> 
> Also, I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy and finding ways to not lose their minds! This is my escape lol


	5. Work From Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The nice thing about the fact that this takes place in the first week of the quarantine, while I am currently experiencing week 298230948209348 (4? IDK how long this has actually been, time no longer has meaning), I have a little bit of a glimpse into their future, so I got plans for these trash babies ;) I'm sorry it took me like 11 days to update this, I've actually been writing a bit of some of the later chapters, so I've been kind of struggling to figure out how to get them to where I want them to go. I swear that there is meant to be _sliiiightly_ more to this story than just quarantine fluff/smut... maybe. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

After lunch, Rey got comfy on Ben’s couch and turned on the TV, browsing through titles to decide what to watch. He seemed to have just about every major streaming service, so Rey opened one she didn’t have and turned on a show she’d heard was good but hadn’t seen because all she had was Netflix. She settled in, knowing she had a few hours to kill before Ben finished working. Her phone buzzed, and she unlocked it, seeing a text from one of her friends from school.

 **Rose:** OMG Rey, I just realized about the dorm thing! Are you OK???? Do you need a place to stay?

 **Rey:** yeah i’m fine lol, thanks for checking in :) someone invited me to stay for the 2 week quarantine

 **Rose** Oh good! Who? Someone from work?

Rey debated lying to avoid the inevitable follow-up questions, but then it dawned on her that at the moment, literally nobody knew where she was. She might as well deal with the conversation now, that way if she disappeared, somebody would know where to look.

 **Rey:** no it’s actually a guy lol

 **Rey:** we started seeing each other at the beginning of break

 **Rey:** i was with him when i got the email and it just worked out

 **Rose:** TELL ME MORE

 **Rose:** WHAT’S HIS NAME

 **Rose:** WHAT DOES HE DO

 **Rose:** WHAT DOES HE LOOK LIKE

 **Rey:** lol his name is ben, he’s a project manager and i don’t have any photos of him on my phone rn but he’s tall and has dark hair

 **Rose:** That is incredibly vague so I would like to request a follow up once you can creep some pics

 **Rey:** lol i’ll try to send you something

 **Rose:** Are you staying at his apartment? Is it nice?

 **Rey:** yeah he has a nice place

 **Rose:** Are there pics?

Rey pulled up Snapchat and sent Rose a few shots of the living area, making sure she wasn’t angled so that Ben could see what she was doing from his office.

 **Rose:** SO FANCY OMG 

**Rose:** How does he afford that place right out of college???

 **Rey:** he’s actually been out for a bit haha

 **Rose:** Like how long is a bit?

 **Rey:** uh

 **Rey:** he’s 29

 **Rose:** OMG

 **Rose:** an older man ;)

 **Rey:** don’t judge me lol i actually might really like him

 **Rose:** I am not judging!!! Congrats!!! I hope you guys work out, you’ll have to introduce us after this quarantine is over :)

 **Rey:** of course :)

 **Rose:** Well have fun ;) I’m sure you’re very busy with your new man so I won’t keep you ;)

 **Rey:** he’s actually working from home right now, i’m just chilling

 **Rose:** Is that so

Rose’s last text was followed up by a parade of suggestive emojis, some of which Rey wasn’t sure the double meaning of but was fairly certain alluded to something sexual, and the link to the Fifth Harmony music video “Work from Home.” Rey decided not to dignify that with a response and went back to paying attention to the show.

_____________________

Ben worked diligently, trying not to think too much about the memory of Rey going down on him under his desk. Her boldness had shocked him, but he was also impressed. Impressed, and _very_ turned on. As much as the thoughts threatened to distract him, he channeled the energy into trying to get all of his work done on time to call it quits before 5. The knowledge that the same girl who’d pulled that stunt a few hours ago was currently lying on his living room couch, waiting for him to come join her, was some of the strongest motivation he’d ever had. Luckily, Hux hadn’t seemed to realize that anything had been amiss on their video conference earlier, so he didn’t have to deal with any awkward situations in subsequent calls. If Hux had had even an inkling of what was going on outside the frame, Ben would never hear the end of it.

Luckily, with it being both a Friday and a work from home day, most of the team was trying to get off early as well, and Ben was able to wrap everything up only a few hours after lunch. He submitted his last report and logged off, plugging his headset into the charger and stepping out of his office. 

In the living room, Rey was curled up on the couch facing away from him and watching TV. He leaned over the back of the couch to kiss the top of her head.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said when she tilted her head back to smile at him.

“All done with work?” she asked.

“Just logged off,” he said. “Done for the weekend.”

“Any big plans?” Rey asked, smirking. “Weekend getaway? Bar hopping? Sporting event? Gathering of more than twenty-five people?”

“Quarantine or not, I can’t imagine myself wanting to go anywhere when you’re sitting on my couch looking like that.” Ben couldn’t help the heated once-over he gave her; she’d definitely fixed her hair a little bit since he’d destroyed it with his hands while she was sucking his dick, but the bun it was in was still messy enough to remind him of it. Her shoulder stuck out of the wide neck of her sweater, making it obvious that she wasn’t wearing a bra again, and her light gray yoga pants clung to her hips in a way that honestly made him a little jealous.

Rey’s cheeks turned pink, and Ben smiled, stepping around the couch to sit down next to her. “That was a bold move you made earlier,” he said quietly, leaning in close so that he could speak into her ear. He smiled as he felt the light shiver that went through her at his words. “I’ve been thinking all afternoon about how I want to get you back.” Rey whimpered lightly, and he knew he had her interest. He reached for her waist, and she caught his hands with her own, guiding them under the hem of her sweater before reaching up to untie her hair, letting it fall around her shoulders in loose waves. Ben slid his hands up her torso, feeling her curves before coaxing her sweater up over her head and tossing it over the arm of the couch.

Rey kissed him, helping him rid her of the rest of her clothes before climbing on top of him, straddling his hips and leaning down to deepen the kiss while Ben lay back on the couch, resting his head against a pillow on the armrest. He returned Rey’s kisses hungrily, growling when she lightly bit at his lower lip and running heavy fingers down her thigh in response. He stayed that way for a few minutes, content to let the tension build, but when Rey began fiddling with the buttons of his shirt, he halted her hands. Confused, Rey broke the kiss, sitting up to see Ben’s face. “What--” she began, but before she could ask, Ben smiled, shifting his upper body further down the couch and pulling Rey up by the hips so that now she was straddling his shoulders. 

“I’ve been thinking about this all day,” Ben said, staring at Rey’s pussy, lazily stroking one thumb up and down the inside of her thigh, close but not quite there. “Can I please?”

Rey nodded, and Ben moved the final few inches to lift his mouth to her, licking a circle around her clit. She responded immediately, adjusting her legs to position herself better over his face and sinking one hand into his hair, the other bracing herself on the arm of the couch. He continued, and Rey moaned, grinding into his mouth as he searched for the right rhythm to get her going.

He must have done something right, because she whimpered, and then began to shake above him, her tits bouncing above his head as he watched her writhe against his mouth. He scraped his fingers down her sides, then gripped her ass, his massive hands nearly encompassing all of it. At the pressure, Rey’s moaning grew louder, and she angled her hips so that her clit could get more pressure from his tongue. He kept up, mesmerized by the way her body was reacting to him. He could tell that she was building up to something, and he knew the dam had broken when suddenly her thighs clenched around his head, trapping him as her body throbbed. “Oh my god,” she said as she began to relax again, releasing Ben’s face and crawling back so that she was hovering over his torso. “That was amazing.”

“I’m glad.” Ben smiled, running one hand up and down her thigh and using the other to wipe some of the wetness from his mouth. 

“Oh, let me get you something for that,” Rey said, hopping off of the couch and running over to the kitchen to bring Ben back a napkin.

He accepted it, grinning as he dried up what was left on his face and neck. Rey blushed, and Ben hoped the color was from arousal and not embarrassment. The whole experience had been hot as hell, and the tent in his sweatpants proved it. 

At that moment, Rey seemed to notice what was happening below his waist, and she climbed back over him, going for his shirt buttons and this time not being met with any opposition. Once his shirt was off, he beckoned for Rey to get up so that he could stand.

“Wait here,” he said, and ducked into his bedroom, grabbing a condom from the nightstand before returning to the living room. He turned Rey around before pulling her to him, pressing against her back as he mouthed at her neck. “Do you want me to fuck you?” he asked.

“Yes,” Rey breathed out, sounding more like a moan than a word.

“Where?” Ben asked.

“Where?” Rey repeated.

“I could lay you back on the couch,” he suggested. “Or I could bend you over the arm of that chair. Or sit you on the edge of the kitchen island.”

“The window,” Rey panted. “Fuck me against the window.”

Ben didn’t need to be asked twice. He pushed her forward, and she rested her arms against the bar that ran across the floor-to-ceiling windows at about waist level. Ben was lucky; since his place was on a high floor and overlooked the harbor, there were no neighbors who could see in, so Rey could survey the city without giving its residents a show. 

Ben shucked off his pants and rolled the condom on while Rey watched him over her shoulder, her smile bringing out the dimples in her cheeks. Ben adjusted her hips before lining himself up, whispering a quiet “Ready?” and waiting for her nod before sliding in.

Rey immediately gasped, her grip on the bar seeming to tighten when he began to move, slower at first before speeding up and eventually slamming into her at a punishing speed. Her sounds took on a higher pitch, and he held back for a moment, worried he might be hurting her. “Is this okay?” he asked.

“Don’t stop,” she commanded, her intense expression reflecting in the glass in front of her. Ben picked the pace back up, and she began to meet him halfway, rocking back as he came forward so that his thrusts hit harder. Ben tightened his grip on her hips, happy that she seemed to be enjoying this as much as he was. The visual was overwhelming; in addition to the incredible view of her ass and the curve of her back as she arched to meet him, he could see the front of her body in her reflection, her tits shaking in time with their movements and her face screwed in concentration as she bit her lip and closed her eyes.

“Do you like it when I take you from behind?” he asked, his voice taking on a husky tone. Rey nodded, her expression still tense. “Do you think you can come for me again?”

She frowned, glancing to the side as if she didn’t know the answer.

“What can I do to make you come again?”

“Touch me,” she said, her breath leaving a small cloud of moisture on the glass in front of her.

Ben reached down, rubbing her clit as he snapped their hips together harder, faster. He felt her legs begin to shake and wrapped his other arm around her middle, holding her in place and slowing his thrusts as she shuddered and contracted around him. When she seemed steady on her feet again, he sped back up, skin slapping together until he followed her, draping himself over her back and gripping the bar next to her hands when he finished.

“Holy shit,” Rey said.

“Was that good?” Ben asked.

“Yes,” Rey said. “I’m still throbbing.”

“I hope that’s a good thing.” Ben slid out of her, making his way to the bathroom to get rid of the condom and clean himself off. “How would you feel about a bath after that?”

_____________________

A few minutes later, Rey met Ben in the master bathroom, where he was filling the massive tub. She noticed that he had lit a couple of candles around the edge and there was a bottle of wine and two glasses on the shelf in the corner.

“Pretty romantic setup for someone who just fucked me into a window,” Rey commented, watching him lean down to test the temperature of the water.

Ben turned to her, using his fingers to comb her hair into a little bit less of a rat’s nest. “You’re still my queen, even after you let me fuck you into a window.” He paused, letting his hands drift from her hair to her shoulders. “Especially after you let me fuck you into a window.”

The water was rising, and Ben stepped into the tub, settling down and waiting for Rey to step in after him. He pulled her into his lap as soon as she was in the water, surrounding her with his massive limbs. He turned off the water, and Rey felt him relax behind her.

“Some of my colleagues have been complaining about how much this quarantine is going to suck, but I really can’t imagine getting sick of this,” Ben mused.

Rey sank down so that the water reached her neck, resting her head back on Ben’s chest. “I could definitely do nothing but this for two weeks,” she said.

“Easily,” Ben said. “They can make this quarantine last as long as they want, I’m happy.” 

Rey sat up, turning around so that her back rested on the other side of the tub and she was facing him. Ben poured the wine and offered her a glass, which she accepted. She’d never taken a bath with another person before. In other circumstances, the thought might have grossed her out a little bit, but in this context, it felt cozy. Intimate.

It was weird. She hadn’t known Ben very long, but she felt closer to him than she did most of her friends from school, even though she’d known most of them for almost two years.

“To be honest, the quarantine in itself doesn’t ruin my routine as much as I feel like it should,” Ben said.

“How so?” asked Rey.

“I like working from home,” Ben said. “Hux can’t come piss me off without me accepting his call first. And a lot of the time, I’d just as well get takeout and eat in the comfort of my own home than go out. The only thing I’m really missing so far is the gym.”

Rey laughed. “My spring break was already basically a quarantine, other than work. I only left my dorm room to eat. But won’t you miss your friends?”

Ben paused. “I don’t have a whole lot of those. I can be kind of a solitary creature. The only place I would typically meet people is work, but the First Order doesn’t have the friendliest culture.”

“So I’ve heard,” Rey replied. 

“Whatever you’ve heard is probably true,” Ben said. “I stopped going to any events I wasn’t required at years ago. You should be glad you’ll be interning at Resistance. I think you’ll fit in there.” A part of Rey preened at his assessment. Resistance was known for being less of a boys’ club than First Order, a little more of a collaborative environment, but their engineers were still considered to be exceptionally high achievers. You didn’t make it there by clawing your way to the top, you made it by being incredibly good at your job.

“Have you thought of leaving?”

Ben paused, then nodded. “Probably. Someday. Maybe after this quarantine ends. I’ve had some recruiters try to talk to me, but it’s hard because they’re realizing that things don’t go so well for firms that poach from FO. I’m going to have to do it carefully.”

Rey hummed in agreement, having heard rumors about First Order retaliating against people who left and the people who hired them. It wasn’t allowed, but it seemed to happen anyway. “At least you don’t have to go to any First Order functions for a little while,” Rey joked.

Ben smiled. “I would much rather drink wine in the bath with you than drink gin at a bar with Hux and seven wannabe Huxes. One hundred percent of the time.”

“I can’t imagine someone wanting to be Hux, but I’ll take your word for it. The First Order seems like a strange place.” That made Ben laugh, and Rey joined him. In two weeks, when the dorms opened up again, she might actually miss being stuck up here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! Thanks for reading! By the way, I am always open to fic recommendations, whether they're yours or just fics you enjoyed, so feel free to tell me what you think I should read! Also, I currently have nobody proofreading these chapters for me (including myself oops I'm lazy), so if anyone is interested in being beta buddies or whatever the cool kids call it, I'd be happy to proofread your fics if you proofread mine :)
> 
> Aaaanyway let me know your thoughts! What do you think is going to happen when Rey realizes the dorms are going to be closed for the rest of the semester?

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! What do you think of this setup? I am hoping to write more now, since I don't really have much else going on. I am going to try to update my other fic as well, but I get inspiration from living life and at the moment I am not doing a whole lot of skiing, so it's hard to get into the fluffy ski season mindset.
> 
> In other news, if anyone wants to send me any fun Reylo prompts, please do, I am really, really bored!
> 
> <3 also, please stay safe and I hope everyone is doing okay!!!


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